JETBLAST: CAROLINA @ WINNIPEG

JETBLAST

The teams that currently are sitting in 28th and 29th place overall in the NHL will meet Tuesday evening in Winnipeg when the Carolina Hurricanes come to town to do battle with the Winnipeg Jets. In 9 total games they have managed only 1 win combined, and only the Buffalo Sabres are behind them. While Winnipeg only has managed one W, the Canes are still winless, although managing to get two games to overtime before dropping the decision. It will be a battle for the basement Tuesday night in Winnipeg, Lets Go!

Hurricanes

The Canes have been a disaster this year thus far, but their results do not tell the whole story. The injury bug has hit the Hurricanes harder than just about anyone in the league. They lost both Staal brothers in the preseason and are also dealing with injuries to john Michael Liles, Patrick Dweyer and others. Their is light at the end of the tunnel however, the Hurricanes expect Jeff Skinner to make his season debut Tuesday. Skinner suffered a concussion in the pre season and has been sidelined since. Eric Staal has also been upgraded to day-to-day and could be back any day now. Though the Canes may not compete for a division crown this season, at full strength they will not be a team competing in the McDavid sweep stakes.

Jets

Another disappointing result for the hometown Jets Sunday night has the town in an uproar. With calls to trade everyone and fire all management, Winnipeg has been unable to put it all together since game 1. It appeared Sunday was the Jets day when they came out in the first period and thoroughly dominated the Flames. They outshot Calgary 13-5 and led 1-0, though it could have been 3 or 4 nothing. After a very impressive 20 minutes, the wheels fell off for Winnipeg. Calgary scored 4 unanswered and won the game 4-1, taking full control for the last 40 minutes. A match up with the only team in the league without a win may be just what the Jets need, but if they can’t figure it out, it’s going to get a lot worse in this town before it gets better.

Keys to the Game

Mark Scheifele: The young Canadian forward has been the Jets best player early this season, making some spectacular moves and getting chance after chance. He has been for the most part unable to finish however. Perhaps the goal he got against Calgary will be a jumping point for Scheifele, if so the Jets have gone a long way to solving some of their problems.

Offense: 2 goals combined in 4 losses is the biggest problem facing the Winnipeg Jets. Neither defense or goaltending have lost the Jets games, but the lack of scoring absolutely has.

Take advantage: Winnipeg is facing the only team that still has a zero in the first column in the standings. The Canes do not have much of their skill in the lineup, missing many key players to injury. The Jets need to win this game.